# What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [April 20, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858 "2017-04-20T16:51:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 133
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2651 "2023-09-02T00:26:01Z")
Oberst Hermann Balck was one of the deep-thinking, progressive and vastly experienced fighting Army officers that had played such a crucial part in Germany’s string of land victories so far in this second European war in a generation. _The Allies Strike Back 1941-1943_ (_The War in the West_ Vol 2), by James Holland ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2652 "2023-09-03T20:39:46Z")
“Aliens suck at music.” _Year Zero_, by Rob Reid ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2653 "2023-09-05T21:02:38Z")
“As a boy, I never knew where my mother was from–where she was born, who her parents were.” _The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother_, by James McBride. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2654 "2023-09-06T15:45:31Z")
“It’s an old city, and no longer in very good shape, nor is the lake beside which it has been built, but there are parts of it that are still pretty nice.” _Holly_, by Stephen King ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2655 "2023-09-06T15:51:58Z")
The mutineers would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for the collapse of the Flow. _The Collapsing Empire_ by John Scalzi The first book in a light space opera trilogy. I read this one back when it was first published but didn’t read the others as they were released. Now that all three books are out I’m circling back around and reading them all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2656 "2023-09-06T21:11:41Z")
I read all three and enjoyed 'em (as I’ve enjoyed much of Scalzi’s work). Hope you do, too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2657 "2023-09-07T15:36:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I read all three and enjoyed 'em (as I’ve enjoyed much of Scalzi’s work). Hope you do, too I have to say I’m underwhelmed. Scalzi has always been strong on plot and weak on characters and this seems to be more true than usual in this trilogy. That said, I’m halfway through the series so I’ll probably keep going. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2658 "2023-09-07T16:51:46Z")
Understood - thanks. I thought the young Emperox and Kiva Lagos were both particularly well-drawn characters, but YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2659 "2023-09-07T17:45:08Z")
Call me Ishmael. and I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2660 "2023-09-07T17:50:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have to say I’m underwhelmed. Scalzi has always been strong on plot and weak on characters and this seems to be more true than usual in this trilogy. That said, I’m halfway through the series so I’ll probably keep going. Yeah, I agree. I read this one book by Scalzi where the protagonist was a foul-mouthed wisecracking tricksy genius who hated authority. And then I read every other book by him with the same protagonist. He writes a really fun foul-mouthed wisecracking tricksy genius who hates authority, but I don’t think he has any other characters in him. When I open one of his books, I know what I’m in for. It’s a fun sip of soda pop, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2661 "2023-09-07T17:58:00Z")
“Today was a very funny day.” _9 Magic Wishes_ by Shirley Jackson > [@lissener](#): > > Call me Ishmael. > > and > > I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support. I get the first, but not the second. A little help? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2662 "2023-09-07T18:50:06Z")
Finally reading Anne Frank for the first time ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2663 "2023-09-07T19:40:45Z")
Ah, thanks. Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2664 "2023-09-07T19:46:11Z")
“We drive out Route 6 on a silent day at the end of May, my mother, the boyfriend, and I.” _Tending to Grace_, by Kimberly Newton Fusco ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2665 "2023-09-08T02:36:27Z")
“Captain Aubrey of the Royal Navy lived in a part of Hampshire well supplied with sea officers, some of whom had reached flag rank in Rodney’s day while others were waiting for their first command.” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2666 "2023-09-08T14:37:07Z")
“Most things in our universe are impermanent.” _The Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals_, by Chiara Marletto ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2667 "2023-09-08T20:15:23Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > “Captain Aubrey of the Royal Navy lived in a part of Hampshire well supplied with sea officers, some of whom had reached flag rank in Rodney’s day while others were waiting for their first command.” Patrick O’Brian, to be sure, but which book, please? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2668 "2023-09-08T21:15:57Z")
_The Mauritius Command_ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2669 "2023-09-09T22:44:48Z")
Ah, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2670 "2023-09-10T18:43:46Z")
“He’d made it to the third fence.” _Wandmaking 101_, by David Hochhalter and Tom Crepeau. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=132) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=134)